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Michigan ponders its automotive future in the connected age

Few people take cars more seriously than Michiganders. I've been to the home of BMW in Germany. I've been to Kia's HQ in Korea. I've seen Honda's goods in Japan. No one, from the factory worker to the executive in her pinstriped suit, is more obsessed with cars than Michigan Inc. That's why it was interesting this week to see the state have a moment of introspection four hours north of the Motor City on a scenic island called Mackinac. Ironically, cars are not allowed here. Normally a tourist trap, it played placed host to the Mackinac Public Policy conference this week. While politics took center stage ( I may be the only person here not considering a run for governor) the evolution of the industry through connectivity and data was a theme of the conference. If you're reading this in New York, Silicon Valley, or one of the automotive heartlands listed above, you do care about this. If Michigan rethinks its approach to the car business – and makes moves to become more competitive – that affects you the consumer and enthusiast. It's jobs. It's technology, and it's a competition to see who's going to be the leader. More than a century after Henry Ford made mass production a thing, more than 70 years after Detroit's Arsenal of Democracy helped win World War II, and nearly a decade after the historic bankruptcies of General Motors and Chrysler, the car business is on solid footing again and looking to the future. What's next? Michigan is still home to thousands of auto workers, tech centers (including gleaming facilities built by Toyota and Hyundai), and the headquarters of the three American carmakers. Just because the economy is good doesn't mean it's a given connected cars and mobility advancements are going to come from this state. A lot of it's not. Tesla, Uber, Lyft, Faraday Future, and other transportation mediums have spouted up other places. Michigan leaders and Detroit's carmakers understand this reality. Reflecting on the past means admitting the future is not a given, a key undertone this week in Mackinac. It's about using existing resources, like skilled labor, to move forward. "We do have the number of technicians and technical expertise here in this state," says Stephen Polk," conference chair and former CEO of auto data firm R.L. Polk & Co. To that end, Ford is placing increased emphasis on a division called Smart Mobility, which is an in-house unit focusing on autonomy, connectivity, and forward-looking ideas.

Federal judge throws out GM's racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler

  DETROIT — A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a racketeering lawsuit General Motors had filed against smaller rival Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, saying the No. 1 U.S. automaker's alleged injuries were not caused by FCA's alleged violations. GM officials said in statement they "strongly disagree" with the order by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Borman, whom the automaker had sought to have removed from the case, and would appeal. "There is more than enough evidence from the guilty pleas of former FCA executives to conclude that the company engaged in racketeering, our complaint was timely and showed in detail how their multi-million dollar bribes caused direct harm to GM," GM said in a statement. The Detroit company added that Borman's decision "would let wrongdoers off the hook." GM filed the racketeering lawsuit against FCA last November, alleging its rival bribed United Auto Workers (UAW) union officials over many years to corrupt the bargaining process and gain advantages, costing GM billions of dollars. GM was seeking "substantial damages" that one analyst said could have totaled at least $6 billion. FCA had called the case meritless and asked Borman to dismiss it. On Wednesday, Borman dismissed the lawsuit "with prejudice," meaning GM cannot refile the complaint. "The direct victims of defendants' alleged bribery scheme are FCA's workers," Borman wrote of FCA. "GM's high labor costs were not an injury proximately caused by FCA's bribes, and any competitive injury that GM suffered as a result of FCA's advantage in labor costs is an indirect injury." "The dismissal of GM's complaint with prejudice earlier today vindicates our position," FCA said in a statement. On Monday, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied GM's petition to remove Borman from the case, but said the two automakers' chief executives didn't have to meet to try to settle the case as Borman had ordered. In calling for that, Borman had called the lawsuit "a waste of time and resources."   Government/Legal UAW/Unions Chrysler Fiat GM

Fiat 500 joins the Hyundai Veloster in the three-door hatchback club

Fiat aims to retain motorists on the brink of outgrowing the pocket-sized 500 by expanding the line-up with a more practical variant fitted with a single rear-hinged half door. Called 3+1, it's offered exclusively as an electric car. Viewed from the driver's side, the 3+1 looks almost exactly like the new 500 introduced earlier in 2020. It's when you walk around to the passenger's side that you notice the differences. Stylists made the front door shorter to accommodate a half door similar to what we've seen on several extended-cab pickups, the Mazda RX-8, and a couple of Saturn models. Hyundai's Veloster is a three-door hatch, too, but its third door is hinged at the front. Fiat explained the half door can only be opened after the front door is pulled out of the way to ensure the passengers don't accidentally unlatch it. It left out the b-pillar, so users can access the rear bench without having to perform contortionist-like moves to clear the front passenger's seat. Extra door aside, the 3+1 is a regular 500; its dimensions are identical to the two-door model's, and it weighs approximately 66 pounds more.  Everything under the sheet metal is shared with the two-door 500, too, meaning the 3+1 is built on a 42-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack that zaps a 118-horsepower electric motor into motion. Its driving range checks in at 199 miles on the rather optimistic WLTP testing cycle, and the sprint from zero to 62 mph takes nine seconds. Keep your foot down, and the speedometer needle will stop moving after it hits 93 mph, the 500's top speed. Fiat hasn't published pricing yet, but it's of little interest to us because the 3+1 will not be sold in the United States due in part to its small size. Even the last-generation 500 – which will remain in production in the foreseeable future – has been axed from the company's American range. If you're curious, however, the new two-door model starts at 25,900 euros (about $30,600) before various incentives enter the equation. This partially explains why it will not be sold in America; Fiat doesn't think it can talk Americans into spending crossover money on a city car. What about the wagon? Rewind to 2018, when former Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) boss Sergio Marchionne presented the group's five-year plan in front of investors from all over the world. Although he focused on Jeep and Ram, he announced the return of the 500 Giardiniera nameplate used by Fiat and Autobianchi between 1960 and 1977.